1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to a liquid propellant gun, and, in particular, it pertains to a projectile carrier used in the liquid propellant gun.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In order to obtain a sustained high rate of fire, liquid propellant guns offer several advantages over conventional solid propellant guns. One advantage is the reduction in the inertia of one round of ammunition, and another is the cleaner and cooler burning characteristics of liquid propellants.
One technique of operating a liquid propellant gun (LPG) consists of loading a projectile into a breech, injecting a liquid propellant into a chamber behind the projectile, and igniting the propellant. The ignition means is usually mounted in a bolting device, and as a result, the same ignition means is repeatedly used for each projectile and this results in fouling if a sustained firing rate is attempted. One might attempt to avoid this problem by using a compression ignition means instead. This technique requires a compression-combustion chamber which is sufficiently pneumatically sealed to be capable of permitting enough compression to ignite the propellant and prevent mis-direction of the high pressure produced by the ignition. These requirements cause alternative problems.
Another technique is attaching to the projectile a carrier having the ignition means incorporated therein so that a new ignition means is provided for each round. In one device, the carrier is removed before ignition. Although this device eliminates the problem noted above, a more flexible design is desired.